A week ago, I attended a conference at Chapman University in Orange, CA, devoted to the topic of free will. The speakers included a physicist, a Sikh spiritual teacher, a rabbi, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and a couple of philosophers. The physicist mused about the possibility, at least at the quantum level, of future events [Read More…]

(This poem, which I wrote during Lent in 1981, appears in my book, BIRDLIKE AND BARNLESS – it is based on Numbers 21: 4-9, John 3: 13-15) THE GIFT No one’s raised who did not fall No one saves whom God did not send No one stands whose knees won’t bend No helper’s not been [Read More…]

Our Facebook Lenten Question of the Week series launched last week with this: How Might a Progressive Christian Approach Lent? Throughout the week, our fantastic bloggers posted a number of thoughtful and inspiring responses. Some of the standouts included: Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove: The Fast We’ve Chosen: Begging with our Friends Kurt Willems: Ash Wednesday: Because Sometimes Rich [Read More…]

By Jeff Fulmer Okay, this is an easy one. I was getting tired of all the polling and endless speculating before the 2012 elections. Two days after President Obama was re-elected, the Republicans were threatening to run us off the fiscal cliff and were still trying to find a cover-up in Benghazi. It’s draining and, [Read More…]

Once considered the liturgical purview of the Catholics, Lent – the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday before Easter – has become more and more embraced as a liturgical season with legs within the Protestant church. With the comfort level of spiritual practices on the rise in mainstream congregations for the past decade, progressive [Read More…]

This weekend I was set to speak in Detroit. A few hours before the event, I got news that our brother Richard Twiss had crossed over to the other side, after a massive heart attack a few days ago. With tears running down my face, we started the event by lighting a candle for Richard [Read More…]

WHY WEREN’T WE TOLD? A Handbook on ‘progressive’ Christianity, edited by Rex Hunt and John Smith (Polebridge Press, Westar Institute) and LIVING THE QUESTIONS: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity, by David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy (Harper One) WHY WEREN’T WE TOLD? – that you don’t have to take the Bible literally in order to be a serious, faithful Christian? That’s the [Read More…]

How often have you stifled a deeply emotional response to a person or situation – or even yourself – out of a sense of wanting to be “a good Christian?” In a new book, The Passionate Jesus: What We Can Learn from Jesus about Love, Fear, Grief, Joy and Living Authentically, the Rev. Peter Wallace challenges our [Read More…]

This past week, I’ve engaged in a couple of intense conversations about manhood in America. A lovely, thoughtful young friend of our family, age 25, was lamenting that she could not find men her age who were worth the trouble of dating. She finds herself interested only in men who are at least ten years [Read More…]

It’s been a long time since I’ve approached something like this. I “came out” as an atheist a few years ago, and I’ve tried to avoid finding “the right interpretation” of the Bible since then. I used to love it. But, over time, it got really frustrating when I finally realized that no one really cared if [Read More…]

[Editor’s Note: This was the sermon preached at my UCC church yesterday, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. I found it remarkable on so many levels, that I asked the Rev. Eric Smith if I could share it here at Faith Forward on this important holiday. Enjoy!] A Sermon from January 20, 2013 First [Read More…]

The recent mass murder of children in a Connecticut school has resulted in at least some redemption, in the form of the current effort by the President to introduce sensible gun laws. Banning assault weapons and imposing universal gun registration would be modest measures to reduce the appalling level of gun violence in our country. [Read More…]

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About this Blog

Welcome to Faith Forward, the group blog of the Patheos Progressive Christian Channel, featuring a diverse collection of voices responding to the Holy in their lives. We invite you to join the conversation with a comment, or with your ideas to progressivechristian@patheos.com.